Summer Child
by Hikariane
Summary: Unrequited love is a painful thing. Watching her fall in love with another man was almost unbearable. Loneliness had consumed him to the point that he could no longer free himself from it. Then she came... the daughter of his first love.
1. Chapter 1

Cries of a new birth came from a tiny farm house settled neatly in the middle of broad, grassy fields. A weary mother gazed lovingly upon the father and infant, her pain forgotten in the joy of the new moment. The father stared with wide eyes at the crimson haired baby girl, the feeling of becoming a parent overwhelming him. He was in awe of her, even as he cleaned her and swaddled her into a pink baby blanket.

"Ignis.." His young wife's voice brought him back to his senses, and he turned his head to see her awaiting arms. She had been patient with him as he cared for their child, but now it was her turn to hold and feed her. The celestial being lowered their daughter into her arms, smiling as she placed her lips upon the infant's forehead. "Don't cry, baby. Mommy's here.." She whispered, brushing her fingers across the smooth skin of her cheek. The baby's cries had died down, now tired from the strenuous day.

"Hikari, what will we name her?" The fiery god asked from her bedside, lowering himself to sit beside her. The mother looked up, meeting her husbands eyes as he laid his hand over hers which cradled their child. "Akane." She whispered, her lips curling up in a small smile. Ignis stooped down, kissing his wife tenderly. "It's a good name."

As the months passed, the girl grew exceedingly well. Not only that, but from the moment she could crawl, she proved to be a trouble maker. She would often get into things that should have been left alone, and more than once created a disaster that her mother had to clean up after scolding and punishing her.

By the time the girl was six, she was going off on her own to explore the large island that they lived on. Her father, being the harvest god, was unable to live with them due to his celestial duties. However, that didn't stop him from keeping a watchful eye on her and her exploratory tendencies. More than once he had to break away from his duties to fetch his daughter from a potentially dangerous area, but even after his reprimanding, she still continued to explore.

Hikari tried to keep a constant watch on Akane, but with her farm work it wasn't always possible. When her mother was busy tending to the animals or watering the crops, she'd run off to find new things to get into. The poor stressed mother had considered getting a child's leash, but couldn't bring herself to go through with it.

Despite being a mischievous child, she had grown up mostly in the likeness of her father. Her hair was a stunning red like his, but only a shade darker. Her eyes also followed in suit, being a bright crimson color. Because of her frequent adventures, her mother ended up getting clothes for her that she could get dirty in. That, at least, was less stress for her later when she had to wash and mend clothes.

On a cool autumn's evening, Akane had slipped past her mother's gaze as usual, taking off down the farm road towards Harmonica Town. She knew the way to town, as she had traveled it many times before when her mother took her to the tiny island school. As she ran along the dirt road, she passed over one of the many shorelines that were decorated along the edges of the island. Voices were heard above the sound of the waves, peaking her curiosity.

She walked onto the sandy shores of the tiny beach, searching for the source of the voices. She saw four of the other children that lived on the island. Heath, Lucy, Roy, and Vivian stood in a circle, arguing over something. "You're stupid, Heath. There's no such thing as ghosts!" The mayor's daughter, Vivian, scoffed, turning her head away as her arms folded daintily across her chest. "Really, I saw one! I was in Fugue Forest with Roy. He saw it too!" Heath insisted, looking to his friend for help. "It's true, it was this big," The blacksmith's son stretched up on his toes, reaching his arm up as far as he could, "and was glowing really bright!" Lucy, the daughter of the local lumberjack, seemed interested in their story, but scrunched up her nose dismissively when the boys looked to her. "I don't believe you. I have to see it for myself, first." She put her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed in a scrutinizing fashion.

"I believe you! I wanna see it too!" Akane exclaimed as she rushed over, her eyes sparkling with excitement. The four children looked over to her, the boys grinning in relief that someone had believed them. Vivian huffed, rolling her eyes. "It definitely has to be fake now, if Akane thinks it's real." She scoffed, looking over to Lucy as if for confirmation. "We can all go look together." Heath suggested, to which Roy and Akane nodded. Lucy hesitated, then nodded as well. "Okay, I guess I'll come too." She smiled, making Vivian gape in shock. "Y-You really believe them?!" She sputtered, then pursed her lips stubbornly. "Fine! If you all think it really exists, then I'll come too, just to prove you all wrong!"

An amused father watched from the peaks of Garmon Mountains. He sat upon his icy throne, listening to the children chattering on as they made their way to Flute Fields where the entrance to the Fugue Forest was. "A ghost... How absurd." He mumbled to himself, but was obviously entertained by it all.

The dark forest seemed to loom all around them, intimidating the five children even though they hadn't yet opened the gate to the depths of the forest. "A-All right, Heath. Where's the ghost? I don't see it anywhere." Vivian hugged her middle as if to protect herself from something scary that might jump out. "It was in there." Heath pointed to the rickety wooden gate that blocked their path. "You're crazy! We can't go in there without an adult, we'll get lost!" Vivian cried, her brow furrowing in panic. "Nu uh, I know where I'm going." Heath walked to the gate, reaching up to remove the chain that held the wooden door shut. "Me too, I've been in here a lot of times too." Roy added in, wanting to seem just as cool as Heath was to the girls.

Akane stood back with Vivian and Lucy as the boy's tugged on the heavy chain, eventually freeing it from the loop. The wooden door groaned and squeaked as it swung open, making Vivian squeal in fright, and Lucy stiffen nervously. "We really shouldn't go in here! We'll get in trouble, or worse!" Vivian pushed, desperate to get them to change their minds. She stared in shock as Akane entirely ignored her, walking ahead to go into the forest. "H-hey!" She cried, clutching onto the ends of her sundress. The two boys quickly followed behind her, not wanting to be bested by a girl. Lucy looked over to Vivian, reaching to take her hand. "We can wait here for them to come back, so if they don't, we can go get help." She was just as frightened as Vivian was now, and couldn't work up the nerve to follow the other three into the forest. Vivian nodded, then glanced worriedly back to the dark pathway the three had just walked into.

"Guys, wait, slow down!" Akane called inside the depths of the shadowy woods. She could see the two boys ahead of her, making their way through the thick foliage. She was struggling to match their fast pace, avoiding the thorny plants and broken branches on the ground. "Come on, Akane, it's up here somewhere." Roy glanced back to her, gesturing for her to hurry up before continuing on. She rushed her cautious footwork, her fear growing as their figures became more and more shrouded in the shadows of the forest.

"Heath! Roy!" Akane yelled frantically, when she could no longer see them in front of her. She circled around, her hands lifting up in front of her chest and clenching shut. She couldn't see them anywhere now. She turned back in the direction she had been walking originally, hoping that if she continued on for a little while longer she might find them. She called out for them, her voice shaking with her fear. It was dark and quiet, and she was all alone now.

Outside the forest, Vivian and Lucy watched as the sun had begun to set. "Lucy, we need to go find an adult now. They haven't come back out yet." Vivian tugged on her friends arm, and together they ran to find someone to help them.

Akane had begun to snivel and whimper. It had been five minutes and she still hadn't found her friends, or the way out. From the corner of her eye, she could see something glowing at the foot of a tree. She jumped and shrieked, thinking it was the ghost. But upon closer inspection, it was only a strange purple mushroom with spots. She shuffled towards it, then reached down to poke the cap with her finger. It didn't seem dangerous to her, so she picked it up and held it in her hands to closer inspect it.

A twig snapping behind her startled her back to her surroundings. She turned around quickly, staring in the direction of the noise. It was silent, then suddenly the bushes began to rustle. Akane whimpered in fear, her eyes watering. "Daddy! Daddy, help!" She cried, her tears spilling over. She knew that he was always there whenever she got into dangerous situations. Why hadn't he shown up already?

At the mountaintop, Ignis paced anxiously. He knew everything that was happening to her. He ached to go down and get her out of that forest, especially when he heard her cries for him. However the circumstances this time were very different from that of the few other times he had to save her. This time, other mortals might see him if he appeared to rescue her. Not only that, but there was another man searching in the woods close to her location. The man was another island resident, and had been so for quite a number of years. He was a magical being, a wizard, but not a god like Ignis. His wife was too far away from Akane to reach her before dark. He had no choice but to use his magic to guide the wizard to his precious daughter's location.

The wizard trudged through the dreary forest, searching for the one thing he came all the way out here to find. It was a certain purple mushroom, that glowed with a magic aura. He needed it for many of his spells, otherwise he wouldn't bother coming into this maze of a forest. He saw a glimmer of light ahead of him, in the bushes just past the trees. He approached it, thinking it was the mushroom he had been searching for. But as soon as he reached the light, it faded away, only to reappear again further in front of him. His eyes narrowed in confusion, and he once more headed towards it.

"Daddy... Momma..." Akane sniveled, crouched down on the forest floor, the purple mushroom held tightly to her chest. She regretted going into the forest. She should have listened to Vivian's warnings. No, she should have remembered all the times she had been scolded for her dangerous outings and decided early on to not go into the forest. She heard the rustling in the bushes once more, much louder than it had been before. She cringed up, scooting back up against a tree so that her back was protected. When she looked up, she saw a figure emerge from the haze of the forest.

The wizard stopped when he saw the female child curled up on the ground, holding the very thing he had been searching for. Despite that, it didn't explain the lights he saw that had lead him to this place. "Who.. are you?" The small voice asked, her red eyes staring up at him in awe. The wizard took a closer look at her features. The red hair and eyes, reminded him of... Ah. So this was the Harvest King's child. The lights he saw must have been the god guiding him to help his child. "I prefer to be called... wizard..." He walked towards her, outstretching his hand to help her up to her feet. She took his hand, standing to her feet as she wiped her eyes with the back of the hand that still grasped onto the mushroom. "Can we find my other two friends? They're in the woods too. I got lost." She looked up to him pleadingly, her hand refusing to let go of his. The wizard studied her, then gave a small nod.

"Akane!" Heath called, his hands cupped around his mouth. Roy stood behind him, searching desperately. "She's lost, and I think we are too." He chewed on his bottom lip, beginning to sniffle. "I wish my dad was here to get us." He was getting more paranoid with each passing minute, the forest seeming to get even darker than it had been. "Don't say that, we gotta be tough!" Heath tried to encourage him, but couldn't hide the fact that he was trembling himself. Footsteps drew them to attention, and they grabbed onto each other as if it would somehow protect them. "WHO is making all this racket?!" A highly irritated female voice snapped, and with the voice followed a figure from the shade of the trees. Her silver hair and scornful gaze was illuminated in the small amount of light coming from between the thickly branched trees. Upon seeing the boys cowering in front of her, she let out a groan. This meant she'd have to take them all the way to the entrance of the forest, otherwise they'd wander around and continue to disrupt her peace. "Stop your sniveling and follow me, brats." She grumbled moodily, turning around to guide them to the exit. The boys looked to each other, their faces pale, then rushed after her.

Akane called for her two friends as the wizard led her around. He hoped this would be over soon, and that he could go home. After all, this was incredibly close to his rival's territory. Not long after they had begun searching, a faint reply came from deeper in the woods. The girl gasped, rushing forward towards it as she tugged the wizard along behind her. "You heard it too, right?" She asked excitedly, to which he only nodded. He heard it all right, but he also sensed something else that caused his mood to sour.

Finally, their back and forth yelling had guided the two groups to each other. The silver haired woman scowled at the wizard, then smirked casually. "Well, since you're doing so well, I'll leave the rest to you, wizzy." She cooed, turning and leaving before he had time to react. The wizard glanced down to the three children who were staring up at him hopefully. A sigh left him, and he allowed them to cling onto his coat as he led them out of the forest.

Outside the forest once more, the children were greeted by furious parents. Akane's head bowed as Hikari scolded her mercilessly, unable to do much else other than mumble 'I'm sorry'. Hikari looked up to the wizard, a familiar smile creeping to her lips as she bowed her head to him. "Thank you so much for helping her." She nudged Akane's back, encouraging her to thank him as well. Akane glanced up at him sheepishly, then held out the purple mushroom to him. "Thank you, wizard." She smiled for him, one that looked exactly like her mother's. "You're welcome..." He murmured as he took the mushroom from the girl. He stared after the mother as she left with her daughter, a squeezing sensation left in his chest from the smile she had given him so many times before. He cast his gaze to the ground, then returned to his empty home.


	2. Chapter 2

Ten years went by since that incident. Akane had learned her lesson, and hadn't been on any dangerous outings since. However, that hadn't fully silenced her desire for adventure. She would often look out longingly from the farm, wondering if there was more out there for her than her simple farm life. She loved the animals, though, and didn't mind tending to them everyday while her mother handled the crops.

As for her father, she often would go to the mountaintop to visit him. Seeing as their personalities were quite opposite, the two often clashed. His stoic and somewhat controlling nature would set her off, and many times Hikari had to get in the middle and calm them down. However upset the celestial being might have been, he never failed to keep an eye on her. Especially when he found that Heath, now a 17 year old boy, liked his daughter.

Akane stood on the stone bridge to Flute Fields, leaned over the side wall as she peered down into the water. She had quite a bit to think about, now that she was older. Her mother had offered to pay for her to go to the mainland and see the world. While she wanted to see the world, she knew that she wouldn't last long without her family and friends. She loved her life here, but she felt like something was missing. She wanted to find out what it was that she was longing for, but wasn't sure if she would find that on the mainland. Something was telling here that what she was searching for was still on this island.

"So you're here, huh?" A familiar boy's voice called her back to her senses, making her glance over to her side. Heath walked over to her side, his hands slipping into his pockets as he looked out towards the ocean. Akane smiled faintly, her gaze following his to watch the swells wash up on the beach. "Yeah. It's quiet.. Helps me think about things." Her arms folded across the wall, her chin ducking down to rest on them.

"Like what things?" Heath inquired, studying her from the corner of his eye. He didn't want her to think he was staring. Akane's lips parted, then hesitated. She wasn't sure if she wanted to let it out that she was considering leaving the island. She bit her lip, then stood up straight, turning to lean back against the wall. "Can you keep a secret?" The serious question caught him off guard, and he turned to face her. "Of course I can." He paused, then continued. "I'd keep any secret you told me as if it were my own."

She blinked, realizing how much he had grown over the past years he had known her. What had happened to that childish, toothy grin that had now been replaced with a kind smile? He was quite a few inches taller than her, some because of his boots, but that didn't change much either way. One thing that hadn't changed was that he always wore some sort of hat to hide his unruly green hair. Lately he had been wearing hats that were identical to his father's. She had to admit, he was a bit... charming, now.

"My mother offered to pay for me to go to the mainland." Akane finally admitted, turning her gaze away to the floor of the bridge. "I've been wondering if I should go and see what's out there, but I feel like there's more here for me to discover." She pushed off the wall, her hands joining behind her back as she took a few steps forward. Heath's eyes followed her, but his mind was still stuck on the fact that she might leave. He hadn't even had a chance to tell her how he felt yet. He tore his eyes from her, looking back out to the ocean to hide his face. "I see." Was the only thing he could come up with in response.

The very next day after Akane's confession, she noticed Heath's behavior around her becoming strange. He would avoid eye contact, fidget, and even ignored her when she called out to him, pretending that he hadn't heard her. By the end of the day, she was entirely fed up with his strange behavior, especially when he couldn't give her a solid reason for his actions. She went to the only person she felt could help her to understand him. Her mother.

"Well, it could be a number of things. Are you sure he wasn't just feeling sick?" Hikari asked from the kitchen, currently working on preparing their dinner for the night. "He was perfectly healthy. I asked him what was wrong, but he said there wasn't anything wrong with him. It has to be about what I told him yesterday." Akane sighed, her top half laid on the dining table and the rest of her slumped into a chair. Hikari hummed thoughtfully, taking dishes out of the cabinet to set the table with. "Have you considered that he might like you, and that the news that you were considering leaving hurt him?" The words hit Akane like a ton of bricks. No, he wouldn't... Did he? She sat up, shaking her head. "There's no way. We've been friends for all these years, and he's never once told me he liked me." She insisted, giving her mother a dubious stare. Hikari seemed to giggle, resting her hands on the back of a chair. "Not all boys can easily tell you straight out that they like you. Your father is a perfect example of that. But there's a way you can find out, without having to ask him yourself.." She gave a sly grin, making Akane's eyes narrow suspiciously. "And how do you do that?"

The next day, Akane stood in front of a white, blue roofed house. So this was the Wizard's house? She hesitantly raised her hand, rapping on the door a few times. There was no answer. That was strange. Her mother had said that the Wizard rarely ever left his house. Against her better judgment, she tested the doorknob, and, to her surprise, it opened.

The Wizard was up on the platform in his house. The behemoth telescope dominated the platform, pointed up into a glass dome that allowed him to peer out at the stars. The universe fascinated him. He spent the last few hundreds of years studying space and magic. That left him with little time for socializing. Not that he wanted to, anyways.

However, there was one day, many years ago, when his peaceful, uninterrupted life was disturbed. The chestnut haired woman had barged into his home without so much as a knock, startling him from his studies of the constellations. He had hurried down the stairs of his platform, his normally lidded eyes now widened in shock. He didn't understand why the new island resident would be so interested in talking to him. None of the others were, not unless they came wanting to read into another islander's heart. He frequently had visits from the younger people, asking if he could tell them what their crushes thought of them.

For a moment, he had mistakenly believed that was what she had wanted. The other islanders must have told her about him, and that was why she was here in his home. He had walked over to his crystal ball, standing behind it as he gazed up to her. "Whose heart... do you want me to look into?" He asked, his hand outstretching to hover over the magic orb. He watched as her earthy brown eyes widened, then softened with her amused expression. "I just wanted your name." She said simply, a grin pulling up the corners of her mouth.

For the next year Hikari came to visit him frequently. At first, he found her to be rather annoying. She was interrupting his studying, after all. Soon she had grown on him. Without his knowing, she had become a presence that he enjoyed, and almost craved. The way she smiled, the way she laughed, it all seemed to throw him off. He didn't know how to express the way he felt. He knew for sure, though, that he wanted her around him.

That was when HE came and took her away. That day, what an awful day it had been, the wizard had left the comfort of his home to see her. He had walked halfway across the island to reach her home, heading up the dirt path of the farm towards her wooden blue and white home. What he saw as he rounded the stalks of corn rooted him in place.

The Harvest God was standing at her open door in all his flaming splendor. He, with a simple wave of his hand, produced a shining red apple that landed in the palm of his hand. The wizard watched as her eyes lit up, her cheeks tinged red, her lips parted in shock, and carefully took the apple from him as if it were a treasure. He had seen that reaction on women many times before when he gave them their requested readings. He knew all to well what it meant. She was infatuated with him.

A sharp pain in his chest caused him to tremble. As the farm girl threw her arms around the Harvest God, the wizard turned and fled from her land. He was unable to bear the pain of seeing the woman he was so enamored with fawning over another man. These new emotions tore him apart on the inside. His first love was unrequited, and he didn't know what to do.

After that, time only proved to be his enemy. Her visits became scarce, and soon stopped all together. He was almost grateful, in a way, as seeing her now pained him. He had returned to his original quiet, short answered nature, and that only helped to discourage her visits. The day he knew would be her last visit was the day she had come in excitement to tell him of her engagement. She hadn't done it to spite his love for her. She hadn't even realized it to begin with. The ring that now adorned her finger was enough to destroy any tattered shreds of hope he had left. It was all he could do to keep a blank expression while he congratulated her, and watch her sprint back out the door.

The sound of his door opening drew him back from his reminiscing of the past. No knock? For a brief moment, a fleeting thought of her passed his mind. After all, she had been the only one to enter his home that way. He walked to the edge of his balcony, peering down to the entrance. Oh. Of course it wasn't her. Instead, her now 16 years old daughter stared up at him. It was uncanny how alike their expressions were. If not for the red hair and eyes, he might have thought it was Hikari after all.

"Yes?..." The wizard began to head down the stairs of his balcony, stopping a few feet away from the teen. Akane paused, her eyes widened as she stared into his own eyes. "You're the wizard, right? The one that helped me when I was little?" She finally found her voice again, her hands joining together in front of her. With a slight nod from the magic being, her brow furrowed. "You look exactly the same. It's been ten years since then, why haven't you aged?" Her voice was tinted with confusion and awe, her eyes flickering over his strange apparel. "I don't age the same way as humans do." He was tempted to smile at the befuddled expression that scrunched up her face.

Akane was silent again, scrutinizing his appearance. The wizard shifted uneasily under her steady gaze, his eyes flickering away from her. He cleared his throat, his fist covering partially over his mouth. "What is it... you came for?" He asked, hoping she would break the gaze that caused him to feel so awkward. She tinged pink for a brief moment, realizing that she had unintentionally been staring at him. She felt so rude for doing so. Where had her manners gone?

"My mother said you can read into the hearts of others, right?" When he gestured towards the table behind her, she glanced back to see a crystal orb perched in the center of the table. The wizard walked past her, stopping behind the table as he waited for her to follow after him. She approached curiously, unsure of how he was going to go about this magic thing he did. "Who?" His eyes locked onto the ball in front of him, only glancing back up to her when she failed to answer his question.

He caught her staring again. The wizard wouldn't deny that it made him feel rather embarrassed to have her watching him so intently. It was as if she was entirely intrigued by him, and lost focus of what else was going on around her. Akane blinked, then sheepishly grinned. "His name? Heath."

Almost immediately after she spoke the name, the crystal orb began to emit a purple glow. A thick haze filled the ball, swirling around as the wizard's hand outstretched over it. His eyes closed, as if an image was being poured into his mind. "Heath... Phoebe and Calvin's son..." His brow knit together, as if what went through his mind was painful. "He's saddened... Unrequited love... He feels... that someone close to him... is leaving." He could understand his pain all too well.

He withdrew his hand, his eyes opening, but his gaze turned down. Akane was shell shocked. How could all of this happened? She never realized any of this. She hugged her middle, feeling as if she had just been sucker punched. She had never intended to cause Heath that kind of pain. The wizard shook his head, his bi-colored eyes turning up to her. She really wasn't that much different than Hikari, was she? She had broken a heart and didn't even realize it until the damage had been done.

"If that's all... I'd like to return to my studies..." The wizard turned his back to her, walking to one of his many book cases. He didn't need to involve himself in this any further. "Oh, right. I'm sorry for intruding. Thank you." She bowed her head, then hurried out of his house. She stood still, turning her gaze back towards the mountain that towered over the Garmon Mines. Surely he could help her.

"What should I do?" Akane stood close to her celestial father, absorbing the warmth that emanated from him. The mountain peak was always cold, but with her father there, she didn't freeze. The Harvest King was personally peeved that a mere mortal boy was infatuated with HIS daughter. He was no where near good enough for his child. However, she had approached him with genuine concern. She wanted a real answer, and not just his over protective demands to avoid the boy.

A sigh left him, and he turned his gaze out over the land far below them. "Nothing can be done. It is his problem to deal with. If you do not love him, then there is no reason you should have to do something to fix the problem." He knew plenty about the boy already, and that his feelings were simply puppy love. There was a limit to how much he would tell his daughter, though. He already knew she was the type to learn from experience.

"I can't just let it be, though. I want to be able to talk to him like I used to. If he avoids me like this, then who else will be my best friend?" Akane turned to hug him, frowning as her head dropped against his chest. The Harvest King paused. It had been quite a while since she last hugged him. He hugged her back, one of his hands resting on top of her head to pet back her fiery hair that resembled his own. "Give him time. He will eventually bounce back." She sighed, and nodded. "All right..." 


	3. Chapter 3

A week passed, and eventually Heath recovered from the initial shock. He had begun to talk to Akane again, and had even walked her home a few times. Akane was uneasy, being unable to respond to his feelings. To her relief, he hadn't made any mention of his feelings.

Heath was still unable to deny his affections, though. He had reaffirmed his courage with the thought that he could still convince her to stay. He would have to slowly work his way into her heart, and hopefully show her that he could be more than a friend.

He started off by returning to his old behavior in order to get her to relax around him again. Strangely, though, she still seemed to be a little on edge around him. It was going to be harder than he had initially thought. He had considered going to the Wizard a few times, but was always too afraid to see her feelings. He worried that it might destroy his determination.

Heath was waiting outside of Akane's house early one autumn morning. Even though it had only been a week and a half since they started talking again, he figured he could walk her to school without it seeming weird. With the chill of fall beginning to settle in, it also gave him an excuse to walk closer to her. He could explain himself by saying that he was cold. Surely she wouldn't have an argument for that.

Hikari was the first to notice the visitor pacing outside, patiently waiting for whom she assumed to be her daughter. She arched an eyebrow, a coy grin spreading on her lips. Of course the boys would start falling at her daughter's feet, her baby was the most gorgeous girl in the world, after all. She laughed merrily to herself, walking back to the kitchen where Akane was rushing to finish breakfast.

"You have someone waiting for you." The words caused Akane's head to jerk up. "Who?" She had already begun to stand as she asked, fumbling around for her school bag. "Why don't you go and see?" Hikari smiled at her daughter's momentary frustrated expression, waving to her as the teen hurriedly left the house.

Heath whirled around at the noise of the door being thrown open, then gave a bashful, half smile to the confused Akane. "Heath? What is it?" Akane hefted her bag onto her shoulder, only to have it tugged right back off by a stronger hand. Heath swung the stolen bag over his shoulder with his own bag effortlessly. "I thought I could walk you to school. It's fine, right?" Though it was a question, he didn't give her a chance to say yes or no. He was afraid she might reject him. He had already turned and was headed for Harmonica Town.

Akane was still for a moment, watching after him in surprise. She couldn't understand what was going through his mind. What was all this about? He had never done anything like this before. What was he up to? With suspicion laying heavily on her mind, she followed after him.

Heath was ashamed of himself. The whole walk to school, he couldn't work up the nerve to make a move on her. He even kept a good distance between the two of them. The only thing he could say he was proud of was that he was able to keep a good conversation going between them. He didn't need to make himself entirely awkward to her.

He was slumped over on his desk, tapping the eraser of his pencil against the table. He shifted his head up, his eyes focusing on Akane, who sat a few rows in front of him. She sat right between Vivian and Lucy. It was dangerous territory for him, especially since they were quicker to pick up on the fact that he liked Akane than Akane herself was. He wasn't even sure if she knew it yet, but he could tell she was acting weird. He stiffened as Vivian glanced back towards him, catching his steady stare at Akane. Heath could practically feel her smirk as he swiftly turned his head away once more. Dangerous territory!

The Wizard removed his hand from his crystalline orb, his gaze averting out the window by his bed. He could tell that things were going to go bad for Heath already. He couldn't understand why the boy was so determined on winning her over. If she didn't love him, wasn't that already reason enough to give up? Women had fickle hearts, and couldn't always be won over... Wouldn't it just hurt more to try and fail?

His brow furrowed and he shuffled to his bed. Had he made a mistake before?... Should he have tried harder to make his presence known to his first love? He sunk down onto the edge of his bed, a sigh escaping him as he turned his gaze up to the ceiling. No matter, it was far too late for that now.

The Witch, however, was also taking great interest in this boy's love struggle. The Wizard and the Harvest King weren't the only ones spying over this strained romance. The vision of the boy's desires disappeared from the surface of the water in her cauldron. She began to scurry around, gathering strange ingredients from the cluttered drawers and cabinets of her home. She had something that could potentially be irresistible to the boy.

Akane caught herself staring out in the direction of the Wizard's house as she left the small, one-room school on the island. She felt like she had offended him last time. Plus, she hadn't properly thanked him for his reading. A gift would have best suited the situation, but she didn't know what he would like. She thought back over the conversations they had together, searching for some clue as to his interests. She could only think of things that had to do with astronomy, but there was nothing like that here on the island.

Then she suddenly remembered that night he had saved her from the woods. She knew exactly what she wanted to give him. The only problem was finding it once more. Sure, she was older now and had less of a chance to get lost, but the forest wasn't referred to as a maze for nothing. "Akane? Were you waiting for me?" A voice came from behind her, startling her back from her thoughts. When she turned, Heath stood behind her with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. "Oh, Heath." She paused, hurriedly trying to come up with a reason. She couldn't just tell him what she had been thinking, but she didn't have the heart to just flat out tell him that she wasn't waiting on him.

"I was trying to decide where I wanted to go for the afternoon, but i've already made up my mind." Akane waved her hand dismissively to him, giving him a grin to let him down as gently as she could possibly manage. "I've gotta go now, so bye!" She took off down the walkway, trying to flee from him as quickly as possible. She had a feeling he would have asked her to walk home together if she hadn't.

Heath frowned as he watched her retreating figure, his hands stuffing themselves into his pockets. A dainty 'ahem' came from behind him, and he turned to glare sulkily at Vivian. She folded her arms neatly across her chest, her eyes narrowed with a slight smirk. "You just don't know when to give up, do you lover boy? She obviously doesn't like you." The words practically crushed his already damaged ego. "Get lost, Vivi. I'm not in the mood." He grumbled, trudging off down the opposite way Akane had taken.

Vivian huffed at his curt reply, her face scrunching up in a wounded expression once he had vanished. She cast her gaze to the ground, her fingers rapping steadily against her arm. She didn't understand it. She had everything she could want. She was smart, her family had both money and power, and she received plenty of attention, but she still felt like she needed more. That, specifically, was Heath's affections.

Akane stared ahead at the rickety gate to the Fugue Forest. Once again she was reliving her past, remembering the first time she had run straight into this forest without a second thought. She had brought things to help her this time, which was only a flashlight and a bag of chips in case she got lost. Maybe water should have been her first choice. Didn't people die faster from lack of water? Not to mention that chips were certainly not a healthy snack for getting lost.

She pushed the worries aside, feeling an old, long buried excitement building inside of her. She hadn't done anything this reckless in ages, especially not with her overprotective father constantly surveying her. Today, though, was entirely different, because today he was occupied with his wife. Today was their anniversary, and they were in the house having a disgustingly romantic dinner together. She couldn't stand to see them get affectionate, which gave her all the more reason to stay away from the house.

Finally Akane's courage returned to her. She reached out, tugging on the chains that held the door closed off from the outside. They fell to the ground with a clatter, and she proceeded into the forest without any further hesitation.

At home, Hikari had laid her torso in her husbands lap, staring up into his eyes intently. "What?" He asked, keeping his gaze focused on a very interesting spot on the carpet. He had never been able to meet her stare for too long. He was easily made flustered by those warm, loving eyes. She broke into a smile, taking his large hand in her own work calloused palm. Her chestnut hair had grown out, with grey hairs dotted amongst it. Yet even though her face was beginning to wrinkle in the corners of her eyes and at the curves of her mouth, she was the most beautiful thing to him. "I was just thinking of these past years. It's strange, you know? To think we used to be so young and frisky, but now i'm all old and greying, where as you haven't changed a bit." Hikari brought Ignis's hand up to her cheek, enjoying the heat that emanated from him. She had always loved that about him. Ignis looked down over his now solemn wife. For a moment, he panicked. He had known this moment was coming. When she'd begin to cry over her own aging, fuss at him for never aging, and then insist that she was growing ugly.

With his brow furrowed, his eyes glazed over, and his hand stilled, Hikari could tell that he had frozen up. She glanced up at him and snickered. "Oh don't worry. I'm not going to melt into a river of tears." She pushed herself to sit up, leaning against his side as her eyes closed. She smiled contently when his arm wound its way around her side. "You've... always been the most beautiful woman on this earth to me." Ignis murmured in his most stoic voice possible. However, Hikari could always detect that embarrassed underlying tone. She knew he was trying to comfort her, even though she had insisted that she was fine.

She buried her face into his chest with a silly grin, hugging him tightly in her arms.

"I love you, Ignis."

"I love you too."

So far, so good. Akane hadn't lost her trail yet. She had walked back the way she came two times, and safely found the exit both times. This time she was going to continue on without turning back. She was determined to find that mushroom before sunset.

Time passed without luck, and just as Akane was ready to give up and head back, she saw something. It wasn't the mushroom, but it was much more interesting. She could hear what sounded like someone chanting in a different language. She took a few steps back, glancing towards a particularly shadowy path in the woods. Both fear and curiosity was roused in her, and naturally her curiosity won out. She shuffled forwards, then edged her way through the path.

When the path came to an end, she found herself in a clearing in the woods. However, in the place of the trees was now a humid marsh with a particular odor. Her nose scrunched up instantly, her hand reflexively moving up to cover her mouth and nose. It didn't help much anyways. Then she realized that it wasn't just a marsh. There was an island at the center of the murky water, along with a house built into the middle of a tree.

Her eyes widened, staring at the home in disbelief. She had never seen anything like it before. It fascinated her. She found herself walking towards it, her hand falling to her side. The chanting that she had heard before seemed to have been coming from inside of the house.

Suddenly the door was right underneath her knuckles that rapped against the wood of the door. She jerked her hand away mid-knock, right as the chanting cut short. Akane took a step back, her adrenaline rushing as she prepared to take off sprinting at the first sign of danger.

The door was flung open, and a silver haired woman stood, dressed in what she could safely assume to be a witch's attire. She scowled, as if the mere sight of the teen irked her to her core. "What do you want? How did you get out here?" She snapped, her fists balled up on her hips. Akane blinked, then scrambled to find the words to respond. "I.. I was looking for mushrooms, and I heard voices, so I... I followed it to here." The answer seemed to only further irritate the 'witch' woman.

Then, as if something had come to her mind, her scowl had turned up into a coy grin. "I see. Well, that's fine, that's fine. How about you come inside, I'm sure you'd love to see the inside." She pushed her door open the rest of the way, offering Akane access into her home. Something told Akane to stay away, and for a moment she wanted to listen to it. "No thank you, i've got to go home and-"

"Oh really I do insist that you come in." The woman's pale hand grabbed onto Akane's arm, practically dragging her inside the marsh house.

The door was shut behind her, and the woman walked past her towards a large black kettle. The contents seemed to be near boiling over, but what was in it, Akane couldn't tell. The teen uneasily shifted in place as she looked around the home. "Do you like fortunes? Perhaps little glimpses into the future?" The witch questioned, taking a small pouch from a countertop and tossing its contents into the kettle. The room flashed with an eerie glow, then the bubbling water stilled into a glasslike surface. The witch turned, glancing back towards Akane to await her response.

"Sure.. Who wouldn't want to see into their future?" Akane said it almost jokingly, not taking it seriously as if it were a real offer. "Then how would you like to see yours?" The corner of the woman's mouth curled up into a smirk, watching as Akane began to step forwards to peer into the kettle. Her hand shot out, stopping Akane from coming any closer. "I can show it to you. For a price, that is." The witch's hand withdrew, and Akane eyed her cautiosuly. "A price?..."

"That's right. I can show you whatever you'd like, and you'd only have to give me something small of yours. Something like a clump of your hair." The witch turned to a drawer, pulling out a pair of scissors.

Akane glanced down to her red tresses, unconsciously reaching up to rest her hand over it as if to protect it. "My hair?" She chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes rolling over to the kettle once more. It seemed like such a good offer. Only a lock of her hair for a look into her future? "Your answer?" The witch interrupted her hesitant thoughts impatiently, steadily staring her down.

Akane slowly pinched a group of hair between her fingers, her gaze flickering between the kettle and the witch. "Okay." She nodded slightly in agreement. The moment she answered, she heard the section of her hair being cut off. The witch turned and tossed the hair into the still surface of the water. Her cold hand gripped onto Akane's arm, drawing her to the edge of the kettle. "Watch."

Akane's eyes seemed as if to drown in the image that appeared in the kettle. The image then overwhelmed her, and in the next moment, she was standing in the vision. She gasped in shock as her mind whirled, struggling to grasp onto the magic that was wrecking her senses. Ahead of her she could see two figures sitting on a spread out blanket. One figure she knew to be herself, and the other was blurred to the point that she couldn't identify them.

She could hear their voices, but the mysterious person's voice was inaudible. She saw herself smiling shyly, then blushing as the other figure leaned in towards her. Whatever they had said must have been a shock, because her future self went rigid just before the figure appeared to kiss her.

"NO!" The infuriated scream of the woman sent the vision swirling into a black abyss before the vision could play out any further. This black wasn't like any normal darkness she had felt before. It felt evil, almost the entire opposite of the feeling that being around her father gave her. It scared her, to the point that she felt nauseated. She staggered back from the kettle, her mind anxiously clawing to recover from the aftermath of the magic. "D-Dad.." She panted out just as she crumpled to the ground.

The last she remembered from that evening was seeing a flash of light, and her father emerging from it. The woman appeared to be horrified, the previous anger-flushed cheeks draining in color. Then Akane's mind couldn't register any more as she passed out.


	4. Chapter 4

Akane's eyelids were like lead. She couldn't move an inch of her body, and yet it didn't frighten her. It felt as if she hadn't moved in a long while. A heavy feeling, almost like a deep slumber, overcame her body with a steady intensity. She didn't want to wake up. It was warm, and she was comfortable. But something reminded her that this wasn't right.

She was enveloped in a still, dark black that filled her senses. No dreams came to entertain her, only the thoughts that she chose to reminisce on. This was unlike any other sleep she had ever been in before. It felt inviting, almost demanding as it kept her under its grasp. Again, she felt that something there was dangerous. This time, she tried to open her eyes.

It was so hard, the movement that should have been so simple was now giving her such a struggle. Finally, she tired out, and gave up. She fell back into the warmth of rest that ominously awaited her.

Another long while went by, and she passed the time with her fond memories. Only when she came to an end of her thoughts did she once again consider opening her eyes. This never ending night seemed to have taken control of her completely. The mere thought of awakening once more was slowly blotched out by a persuasive essence, as if it was trying to keep her from leaving.

For a moment, she could feel her feet growing cold. It was different from the warmth that had kept her at peace for so long. This icy feeling gave her fear. It stole away not only the heat from her as it inched up her leg, but also any sense of comfort that she had falsely confided in. She could feel herself growing rigid as it crawled along her skin. It was trying to consume her.

She fought against it, knowing that she needed to open her eyes and push away whatever was overtaking her. Her struggling did almost nothing. It continued to wrap around her, now reaching up to her thighs. She had to free herself. But how?

Something took hold of her hand. It squeezed her hand tightly, almost so much that it hurt. However, the pain was subsided by a feeling of relief that flooded into her. It spread throughout her body, even fighting against the frozen claws that had hooked firmly into place. It no longer moved, but instead left that part of her body with a deadened feeling.

"Akane." The voice reverberated in her mind strongly, and instantly, the thick fog that had surrounded her mind faded away. She could remember everything now. The strange house, the peek into the future, the shattering scream that had sent her spiraling into this horrid, eerie slumber. Without anymore doubts or hesitation, she strained against the force that kept her from opening her eyes.

She couldn't give up like this. She had so many things left to do in life. She wanted to fix things up with Heath, she wanted to explore the mainland, she wanted to graduate from their tiny island school... The determination won her over, and light began to fill her eyes.

A ceiling, and three faces were the first things she saw. Her eyes narrowed, the light nearly blinding her. "Akane, honey, oh my little baby!" Her mother's hysteric voice was the first thing she heard. Her body was crushed by another, and she could feel the tears beginning to stain through the clothing that covered her. Hikari shook as she sobbed into Akane's shoulder. Why was her hair so much more greyed than it had been just this morning?

The hand that had been clutching onto hers so firmly was released, eliciting a gasp from Akane. "Wait.." Her voice was rough, and unsteady, as if she hadn't spoken in ages. Her head slowly turned towards the direction of the hand that had left her, even her fingers twitching up in protest. Bi-colored eyes met her own, and her brow furrowed as she strained to hone in on them. The only one she knew to have eyes like that..

"Yes?" The wizard's steady, calming voice soothed her momentary panic, and she rested her hand back onto the bed. Her head gradually shook, which in turn he gave her a curious glance. He, at least, seemed to have stayed exactly the same. With that reassurance, she then turned to peek over her mother's trembling back. Her father was watching her, a deep worry in his eyes. It seemed as if he wanted just as much to throw his arms around her, but was restraining himself so that Hikari could shed her pent up emotions.

What was going on? Why were they all so distraught? Her confusion must have been evident, because her father gently pried his wife from her body. Hikari clutched onto Akane's hand, kissing the back of it as her relief continued to pour out of her. Ignis kneeled beside her, and when her head turned to follow him, she finally realized that she was in her own bed. She stared at the navy sheets before turning her eyes up to Ignis.

"Dad?.." Her voice cracked as she spoke, but she was able to say the word clearly enough for him to understand her. "Do you remember what happened, Akane?" He asked, his large, coaxing hand stretching up to brush back her hair. Since when had her hair grown this long? Akane gave a small nod, to which all three seemed to relax.

"I heard you call for me, and I felt some sort of evil incantation being placed upon you. Even though I arrived a second after, I was too late to have stopped it." The Harvest King let out a sigh, his face scrunching up in despair. As he hesitantly continued on, Akane's mind was racing to keep up with what was going on.

That moment the witch-like woman had screamed, a curse was placed upon her that would have destroyed her entire body if not having been interrupted. Her father had managed to stop the curse, but couldn't entirely remove it. In order to preserve her from being killed, he had to put her into a sleep-like trance that would halt the progression of the curse while he searched for a cure. The Harvest King even pleaded with the wizard, begging for his help to save his daughter.

The two diligently searched for a way to dispel the curse, but time only proved to be their enemy. The Harvest King's spell had only slowed the curse. While they were frantically looking to save her, the curse had begun to work its evil upon her body. It had started with her feet, inching its way up her legs. Hikari, being mortal, had no way of helping the two men. All she could do was watch, and worry.

Time flew by, and the affliction had covered her legs before they finally found an answer. The wizard had rushed over, and had begun to remove the curse when Akane moved for the first time since the incident. Her eyes had fluttered, then, an hour later, they opened.

As the Harvest King fell silent, Hikari bit down on her bottom lip. "How long... have I been sleeping?.." Her voice came out weakly this time. She was afraid of the answer that might come from him. The wizard looked over to her from his seat on a rocking chair in the corner of the room. "5 years..." His voice was laden with sympathy, and he quickly looked away in shame once her eyes fell on him.

The words slammed into her like a bag of bricks. Had it really... been that long? Akane shook her head, in disbelief of what he said. "No... it can't be..." She whispered, her eyes becoming blurry. "Oh Akane, honey, i'm so sorry!" Hikari wept, her hand clamping over her mouth to stifle her sobs as she sunk down onto the bed beside her. Akane trembled at the sight. Her mother's broken sobs were only a confirmation for her that it was true.

Akane struggled for a moment, moving her arms to bend up so that she could prop herself up on her elbows. "Akane, wait, you need to go slow, there's something I haven't.." Ignis's sentence cut off when tears burst forth from her welling eyes. "Why can't I move my legs?" Her voice was thick, with a heartbroken edge that sent her father to tears. When none of them answered, she knew that she could never use her legs again.

Akane's parents let her take a week to recover before the other islanders were told of her awakening. Though she had physically recovered, she was still dealing with the emotional toll. She had to spend her days in a wheelchair now, making herself learn how to properly maneuver the contraption. She hated being confined. It went against every fiber of her being, but there was nothing she could do.

She also had to adjust to the changes in her body. She was now 21 years old. It wasn't just her, either. Every single one of her friends had now aged. Lucy, and Roy had come to visit her the same day the news was sent out to the islanders. The two had gotten married, and were already expecting their first child at such a young age. Family friends, the elderly, even people that didn't know them that well all came to celebrate Akane's waking. However, the only two she had yet to see, was Vivian and Heath.

Akane already knew why they wouldn't come. Lucy told her that a few years after she was put into a coma, the two of them got together. They had just married only two seasons ago in the spring. She figured that the news would shock Heath, and that he wouldn't know how to respond to it. She just wanted the two of them to be happy in their marriage. It would have never worked out between them, anyways.

There was one visitor that had taken to coming to check on her every day. The wizard said that he was only making sure that there were no aftereffects from the curse, but whatever his reason was, he seemed to be a big source of her comfort now. His company helped her to take her mind off of things.

It was fall, now, only three weeks since she woke. Things had settled down in Akane's family. Hikari no longer had a strained expression that hid her regret, and Ignis had taken the habit of eating dinner with them every night to make sure that everything was going all right.

However peaceful their life might have become, Akane found herself bored and sullen half the time. She was useless on the farm, now. The most she could do was work with the chickens in their coop, and even that was a short lived task. She had built up her arm muscles, and was able to get around easier now than she had at first. Despite this, she still couldn't travel very far from the house without help, seeing as the paths to the town were rocky or uneven. This lack of transportation made her cherish her friend's visits even more, and even more so the wizard's.

Akane had been in the middle of taking care of the laundry when a familiar four-rapped knock sounded from the door. She set aside the clothes, wheeling herself over to the door and opening it. A smile beamed up from her to the silver haired man, to which he bowed his head in greeting. "Good afternoon, did you come to visit me?" Akane wheeled back to allow him inside. He stayed put, studying her for a moment. She gave him a quizzical expression when he made no movement to come inside. "Would you like... to go for a walk?.." He asked, and she smiled once more.

It was a beautiful day. There was the occasional chilly breeze, but a jacket solved that issue. The wizard wheeled Akane down the farm path, careful to avoid potholes in the ground so that she wouldn't be jostled too much. She was much lighter than he had thought she was. He listened as Akane chattered on about how different it all seemed to look compared to five years ago. Honestly, he couldn't tell the difference. Time was no longer a factor that affected him.

Why was it that he had become so interested in visiting her every day? Well, he couldn't deny that he had first noticed her when she came by his home that day to ask about Heath's affections. Except then, she had left on a bad note with him. He had mistakenly accused her of being exactly like her mother, and that was his own fault. He hadn't taken the time to properly study her character.

When the Harvest King showed up at his door the next day, pleading for his help, he was undoubtedly curious as to why the girl was such an idiot as to go to the witch princess. He was surprised, though, that the witch would do something so horrible to a teen. It was soon after that he found out that she had been delving into black magic studies. Without a doubt he believed that she got in over her head, and ended up getting possessed by some spirit.

During his searching, he would often visit Akane and Hikari, just to check in on them and make sure that the curse hadn't spread too far. Hikari would ask him to look into Akane's heart, hoping that her daughter wasn't in any pain. The wizard would comply to her wishes, just to keep her from fretting too much. That was when he honestly learned more about Akane, instead of just from his own guessing.

After a short travel, the wizard had brought Akane down to the tiny beach between her farm and Flute Fields. He kept her up on the road, leaning against the fence. He was afraid the wheelchair would get stuck if he took it out onto the sand. Akane looked out as the ocean lapped up at the shore, then retreated, leaving a foamy substance in its place. How she wished she could freely come and go like that.

"You know, everything around me has changed. Only you, my father, and this ocean remained the same." Akane spoke in a thoughtful, soft voice. The wizard, who had moved to stand beside her, cast a glance towards her. "I sometimes feel depressed about losing five years of my life... but you and my family never gave up on me, even when all the other islanders thought I wouldn't wake up again." She tilted her head, closing her eyes to listen to the waves crash against the sand. "I'm grateful to you all. I'm going to do my best to make up for all the time that I lost. Even if it means I have to rebuild friendships, I'll do it. But.. I'm mostly thankful to you, wizard."

The smile that came from her next warmed the wizard's heart. For a moment, he saw her as a woman, not as the sixteen year old girl from five years ago. "Even though you're not my family, you spent so many years helping find a way to get rid of that terrible curse." She reached out, and rested her hand against his arm. The touch shocked him. It had been a long time since he had experienced social interaction like this. "So.. thank you, wizard. I owe my life to you." Akane bowed her head to him.

The wizard was stunned. He didn't know how to properly respond to the gratitude that radiated off of her. He turned his head away from her, his chagrin beginning to show. How long had it been since he had felt sheepish like this? "You're welcome.." He murmured, hiding the ghost of a smile that crossed his lips.


End file.
